Terrence

I was always under the impression that one cannot have a sport interior with leather dash. My friend who has a 2000 tells me that his car has the sport interior and the leather dash. I read in a BMW internal newsletter that the 2001 cars only have a leather-looking dash for the exclusive interior and compressed rubber for the sport interior. So two questions?
1) Is the leather dash really leather?
2) Is the leather or leather-looking dash available with the sport interior? What is the option code for that?
Thanks.

c4m5

Quoting from a 7/99 BMW to Dealer Bulletin: All Leather adds leather to the upper door panel finishers, door panels, upper dashboard, and glove box lid. Sunshades are not designed to accomodate All Leather. My 12/99 has the above w/ sport interior and the Alcantara w.Titanium Trim///DG

[This message has been edited by c4m5 (edited 03 March 2001).]

Italia

In MY2000 the all leather dash, door panels etc, was available with the Sport interior. In MY2001 that is no longer the case: The all leather is not available with the sport interior; it is only available in what is now called the Luxury interior.

Also, in 2001 the all leather is a synthetic leather which looks and feels like the real thing. (Probably holds up better to the sun.) This is what I have and I love it. I'm not sure if BMW used real leather in MY2000.

-Carmen

c4m5

Carmen, How can they call it all leather? What about the "truth" in advertising issue? Did they disclose this somewhere? Hope to see your car soon and check it out.///DG

panoply

If the leather on my upper dash is fake, I'll eat my hat. (It's a 2001)

RichS

Guys, this is very confusing to me. Multiple people on this board and Bimmer.org have stated that the luxury interior for 2001 has a non-leather dash covering. The little material I could find on 2001 specs says leather. I asked my local service advisor this question, who kicked it up to the regional rep, who says it is leather.

Now this is not a trivial question to me. I live in the south, and park in an open, uncovered, lot. I really need to know what to apply to the dash this summer - Vinylex vs Lexol. (Of course I use a sunscreen, but the car still cooks.)

If someone knows FOR SURE that this is not leather, please let me know - and quote the source. I don't want to hear about some supper secret encrypted back office BMW letter that has to be eaten after read.

raland9

I have the same issue as RichS and it is not clear whether it is leather or faux leather. All dash boards crack in Texas weather unless properly treated. Mine is a 2001 model.

Rick

PaulMarin

The real all leather dash is not on any 2001 cars.

Jester

So those that did get ALL-LEATHER for 2000 M5's got the REAL Leather? My car sure looks like its real leather. hmm confused.

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'00 NBM Vette Convertible Pic #2
'00 ///M5 Titanium Silver/Caramel

HadE55NowM5

I hope that you like the taste of your hat!

For 2001, the upper door caps and dash are covered in synthetic leather for the Luxury interior. For the sport interior, these pieces are injection-molded plastic.

For 2000, All-Leather was a no-cost option in the USA for both the Sport and Exclusive (now identified as "Luxury" for 2001) interiors (apparently this option costs thousands of dollars for our European friends). These 2000 All-Leather interiors have real leather dashes, upper door caps, door panels, interior door handles/pulls/armrests, center consoles, lower dash, glove-box doors, etc. In addition, all of the leather on the 2000 All-Leather Exclusive interior is the softer and more-supple Nappa Heritage leather (except the upper dash and upper door caps which are standard Nappa).

The differences in the 2000 All-Leather vs. the Extended (read less) Leather interiors are especially apparent on a non-Black Exclusive interior. For instance, my 2000 Exclusive All-Leather Caramel interior is essentially All-Caramel (except for the upper dash surface and upper door caps). Even the speaker grilles are matched Caramel. One day, I saw an 2000 M5 Imola Red M5 with an Exclusive Extended Leather Caramel interior, and the differences were readily apparent. Where the lower dash, glove-box door and entire console on mine are all covered in Caramel Nappa Heritage leather, the Extended Leather counterpart had Black injection-molded (i.e. "bare black") center console, lower dash, interior door handles/pulls/armests, glove-box door (in addition to the injection-molded upper dash and upper door caps). All of that black injection-molded plastic makes for way too much contrast with a color like Caramel, which in my opinion makes for a cheaper, less cohesive, consistent, and uniform look. The only thing that has to be sacrficed for this richer looking, feeling and smelling All-Leather interior is the inability to combine it with rear and side-window sun shades (a small price to pay IMHO). For me, it was no-brainer to spec. my car out with this no-cost (at least in the USA) All-Leather trim, something which costs something like $6,000 -7,000 in the non-North American markets.

BTW, the Alcantara headliner is now standard in 2001 on both the Sport and Luxury interiors. In 2001, the velour headliner was standard on both of the Extended (read less) Leather interiors (i.e. Sport and Exclusive), with Alcantara being a no-cost option for both of these scenarios. In 2000, Alcantara was standard-issue for both the All-Leather Sport and Exclusive interiors.

I use a windshield sunsceen to help make my leather dash live as long as possible. I think that BMW probably decided to cover the dashes on the 2001 Luxury interiors (which for 2001 is the only one offered in All-Leather -- the 2001 Sport interior is trimmed only in Extended (read less) Leather) in synthetic leather due to having to replace under warranty too many genuine leather upper dashes, due to leather drying, shrinkage and warpage problems. I assume that the reason that the upper door caps are now also synthetic leather is because they flow from, and are a "continium" of, the upper dash, and both should thus be of the same material (remember, the 2000 All-Leather Exclusive interiors have Nappa upper dashes and upper door caps, with the balance of the interior surfaces covered in Nappa Heritage).



[This message has been edited by HadE55NowM5 (edited 03 March 2001).]